Most participants at the April ‘Copyright, digitisation and access‘ seminar agreed that being in position to now develop their own copyright strategy was probably the most important outcome of the short course.

Starting off with a look at current trends in online sharing of heritage, we then went to carefully examine the copyright tools that are available to librarians and archivists to enable them to make their artefacts accessible online. The end result was the beginning of a strategy that each organisation could employ that examines who the stakeholders are, what best case practice is for sharing artefacts with creators and custodians, how to implement Creative Commons licenses and use other free online tools, and what steps to employ in order to successfully develop an inventory of open content within the online archive.

I was really lucky to have started the course with such a special group of people. Every one of the participants is so passionate about their work, and asked such great questions, that it really didn’t seem like work at all!

We received some great feedback from participants. Everyone who gave feedback said that they would recommend the course to others, and that they would implement things like the in-house copyright strategy, Creative Commons licenses, and call for greater transparency and further steps to protect copyright holders’ rights within their organisations.

The participants have joined a mailing list where they are able to post interesting news about their projects and ask questions of other participants. Future participants will join this group so that there is ongoing support as copyright strategies are implemented in the months to come.

A huge thank you from iHeritage and the African Commons Project to those who participated in the workshop. We look forward to hearing more as you implement your strategies!

Registration for training in Durban closes this Friday. Make sure you book your place!

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Open SA! is a pilot project in collaboration with SA Rocks and the African Commons Project to enable people with great historical and cultural materials about South Africa to share them online for the benefit of all. Read more here!